Penetrating spear with suspended warhead

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a spear having an elongated rod or stem to penetrate hard targets. A warhead is suspended directly behind the stem.

United States Patent 1 Riparbelli 1 Aug. 5, 1975 1 1 PENETRATING SPEAR WITH SUSPENDED WARHEAD [75] Inventor: Carlo Riparbelli, San Diego. Calif.

[73} Assignee: General Dynamics Corporation,

Pomona, Calif.

[22] Filed: June 21, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 372,126

[52] US. Cl. 102/52; 102/59; [OZ/49.3 [51] Int. Cl. F42B 13/28 [58] Field of Search 102/2, 7.2, 56, 52, 49.3,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 384,646 6/1888 Smith 102/59 576,038 1/1897 Dam 102/59 1,325,776 12/1919 Barlow 102/72 2,145,507 1/1939 Denoix 102/2 2,332,670 10/1943 Rouse 102/2 2,480,927 7/1949 H0pkins..... 102/493 X 2,741,180 4/1956 Meister 102/52 3,489,087 1/1970 Soderberg 102/2 R27,073 2/1971 Schimrnel c1211. 188/01 C Primary E.raminerVer1in R. Pendegrass Attorney, Agent, or FirmAlbert J. Miller; Edward B. Johnson [57] ABSTRACT Disclosed is a spear having an elongated rod or stem to penetrate hard targets. A warhead is suspended directly behind the stem.

2 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures 897. 730 PATENTEUAUB 5l975 SHEET PENETRATING SPEAR WITH SUSPENDED WARHEAD BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Since conventional bombs and rockets deliver their destructive energy in various forms and in all directions, they are largely ineffective against hardened tar gets such as underground concrete structures. Penetrating spears, such as illustrated and described in US. Ser. No. 325,716 filed Jan. 22, 1973, have been developed to utilize single directional kinetic energy against such targets. The present invention is an improved version of such a penetrating spear.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The penetrating spear, which includes an elongated rod or stem, is directed against an intended target by aerodynamic surfaces and propulsion means associated therewith. Suspended directly behind the stem is a warhead which is mechanically isolated from the stern so that the stresses propogating through the stern incident with target impact and penetration will not damage the warhead.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a front end view of a penetrating spear of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the spear of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2A is a side elevation view of an alternate spear with a front fairing.

FIG. 2B is a side elevation view of another alternate spear with a front radome.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the penetrating portion of the spear of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the penetrating portion of the spear taken along line 44 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of the penetrating portion of the spear of FIG. 3 shown during target penetration.

FIG. 6 is a side elevation view of an alternate penetrating portion of the spear.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The penetrating spear of the present invention is basically illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. The spear I0 generally comprises an elongated metal rod or stem 12, a warhead section 14 disposed behind and attached to said stem 12, and a flight assembly including a rocket motor I6 disposed behind the warhead section 14 and aerodynamic flight stabilizing surfaces 18 disposed around the rocket motor 16.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate two alternate penetrating spears. In FIG. 2A, a front fairing l3 encloses a shaped charge which may be utilized to help effect initial target penetration in the event of an oblique or nonaxial impact with the intended target. In FIG. 28, a front randome or ogive l7 encloses a target seeker 19. In either case the fairing or randome and its contents are destroyed and lost upon impact with the target.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate the penetrating portion of the spear 10 which includes the stem 12 and warhead section 14. The rocket motor I6 and aerodynamic surfaces I8 provide stabilization and propulsion to the spear 10 during flight but are detached from the penetrating portion 20 upon impact with an intended target.

The stem I2 may be made of a ductile material, e.g. mild steel, such that an enlargement of the front end takes place upon impact due to plastic deformation of the material. Alternately the stem I2 may be formed of a hardened material such as hard steel or tungsten in which case the front end may be enlarged or bulbshaped to reduce or avoid the clamping effect of the ground around the penetrating portion 20 of the spear 10.

The warhead section 14 is disposed behind and suspended from the stem 12. This section 14 comprises the warhead 22, shock absorber 24, and electronic package 26. The shock absorber 24, which is disposed between the back of the stem 12 and the warhead 22 may be of a crushable honeycomb structure. The electronics package 26 disposed behind the warhead 22 may include the warhead fusing device.

The warhead section 14 is suspended or attached to the stem I2 by means of plurality of resilient cables or tendons 28 which extend from the stem 12 to a connection 30 such as a ring, skullcap, or plate at the rear end of the warhead section 14. The tendons 28 work under tension to pull the warhead 22 down the stem 12 and prevent the warhead 22 from being retarded or stopped by friction. It is essential that the warhead 22 follow the stem 12 during penetration but it cannot be rigidly attached to the stem 12, otherwise, the warhead 22 would be subjected to the extremely high stresses incident with the violence of impact with the intended target.

It is imperative that the deceleration peaks of the warhead 22 be less than those of the stem 12 in order to avoid damage thereto upon impact and during penetration. This is accomplished by permitting the distance between the back of the stem 12 and the front of the warhead 22 to decrease a controlled distance upon impact and during penetration. As shown in FIG. 5. the front end of the ductile stem 12 mushrooms. the shock absorber 24 is compressed during penetration and the tendons 28 are now slackened.

If desirable, a tube 36 may be attached to the back of the stem 12 to enclose the warhead section 14 as shown in FIG. 6. In addition, to increasing the stability of the stem 12 during penetration, the tube 36 will protect the warhead section 14 from impact by any ground debris in the crater.

By suspending the warhead behind the spear stern by means of resilient attachments and permitting the warhead to move forward with respect to the stem, the warhead is protected from the severe stresses during impact and penetration. Stresses in the stem cannot be directly transmitted to the warhead section through the resilient attachment therebetween. The deformable shock absorber between the stern and the warhead will cushion the forces tending to act on the front of the warhead. The warhead is still, however, constrained to follow the stern during penetration to the prescribed depth at which detonation is to take place.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is to be understood that these are provided by way of example only and that the invention is not to be construed as being limited thereto but only by the proper scope of the following claims.

What I claim is:

l. A penetrating spear comprising:

an elongated, solid metal. penetrating stem;

a warhead disposed behind said penetrating stem;

a crushable honeycomb shock absorber means disposed between said penetrating stem and said war head;

a warhead connector plate disposed behind said warhead;

a plurality of tensioned resilient cables extending between said penetrating stem and said warhead connector plate to resiliently suspend said warhead behind said penetrating stem;

propulsion means operably affixed behind said penetrating stem to accelerate the spear to an optimum velocity before impact with an intended target; and

a plurality of aerodynamic surfaces operably disposed around said penetrating stem and said propulsion means to control and stabilize the spear during flight.

2. A penetrating spear comprising:

an elongated, solid metal, penetrating stern;

an elongated, hollow tube extending behind said penetrating stem;

at warhead disposed in said hollow tube;

crushable honeycomb shock absorber means disposed in said hollow tube between said penetrating stem and said warhead;

a warhead connector plate disposed behind said warhead in said hollow tube;

a plurality of tensioned tendons extending between said penetrating stem and said warhead connector plate to resiliently suspend said warhead behind said penetrating stem;

rocket motor propulsion means disposed in said hollow tube behind said warhead; and

aerodynamic flight stabilizing surfaces disposed on said hollow tube around said rocket motor propulsion means. 

1. A penetrating spear comprising: an elongated, solid metal, penetrating stem; a warhead disposed behind said penetrating stem; a crushable honeycomb shock absorber means disposed between said penetrating stem and said warhead; a warhead connector plate disposed behind said warhead; a plurality of tensioned resilient cables extending between said penetrating stem and said warhead connector plate to resiliently suspend said warhead behind said penetrating stem; propulsion means operably affixed behind said penetrating stem to accelerate the spear to an optimum velocity before impact with an intended target; and a plurality of aerodynamic surfaces operably disposed around said penetrating stem and said propulsion means to control and stabilize the spear during flight.
 2. A penetrating spear comprising: an elongated, solid metal, penetrating stem; an elongated, hollow tube extending behind said penetrating stem; a warhead Disposed in said hollow tube; crushable honeycomb shock absorber means disposed in said hollow tube between said penetrating stem and said warhead; a warhead connector plate disposed behind said warhead in said hollow tube; a plurality of tensioned tendons extending between said penetrating stem and said warhead connector plate to resiliently suspend said warhead behind said penetrating stem; rocket motor propulsion means disposed in said hollow tube behind said warhead; and aerodynamic flight stabilizing surfaces disposed on said hollow tube around said rocket motor propulsion means. 